Multishelled Hollow Structures of Yttrium Oxide for the Highly Selective and Ultrasensitive Detection of Methanol

Methanol is extremely harmful to human health, since it is oxidized slowly and can accumulate in the human body. Therefore, it is essential to develop a methanol gas sensing technology with high sensitivity and selectivity for use in environmental monitoring and healthcare. In this work, a simple and low-cost sensor based on a Y₂ O₃ multishelled hollow structure (YMSH) to selectively detect methanol with an ultrasensitive limit of detection (71 ppb) is developed. The unique multishelled hollow structure with a large surface area and exposed {222} facets makes an important contribution to the ultrasensitive detection of methanol, which is further confirmed by subsequent theoretical simulations. Moreover, in situ Fourier transform infrared spectra verify that CO₂ is the final product, which indicates a high catalytic activity of the YMSHs toward methanol oxidation. Interestingly, the sensor can also be applied to liquor samples that are mixtures of ethanol, methanol, and water, which provides a facile way to detect methanol in wines. This sensor represents a unique and highly sensitive means to detect methanol, which has great promise for potential application in environmental monitoring and food safety inspection.